Law Commons^™

Pink Tax And Other Tropes, Bridget J. Crawford

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Law reform advocates should be strategic in deploying tax tropes. Through an examination of five common tax phrases—the “nanny tax,” “death tax,” “soda tax,” “Black tax,” and “pink tax”—this Article demonstrates that tax rhetoric is more likely to influence law when used to describe specific economic injustices resulting from actual government duties, as opposed to figurative inequalities. In comparison, slogans describing figurative taxes are less likely to influence law and human behavior, even if they have descriptive force in both popular and academic literature as a short-hand for group-based disparities. This Article catalogues and evaluates what makes for effective tax …

Tax Talk And Reproductive Technology, Bridget J. Crawford

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The tax system both reacts to and helps create attitudes about the value of certain behaviors and choices. This Article makes three principal claims—one empirical, one normative, and one interpretative. The Article demonstrates through data that a representative sample of fertility clinics in the United States does not make information about the tax consequences of compensated human egg transfers—commonly called egg “donation”—publicly available. In 2015, in a case of first impression, the United States Tax Court decided in Perez v. Commissioner that a compensated egg transferor must report as income any amount she receives for her eggs. Although the Tax …

The Critical Tax Project, Feminist Theory, And Rewriting Judicial Opinions, Bridget J. Crawford

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Introduction to Symposium on Feminist Judgments: Rewritten Tax Opinions.

Authentic Reproductive Regulation, Bridget J. Crawford

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

In this response to I. Glenn Cohen’s article, Regulating Reproduction, Professor Crawford notes the ways in which Professor Cohen’s questioning of “best interests” logic challenges legal scholars to reexamine received wisdom. She then evaluates Professor Cohen’s critique of “best interests” in the context of income taxation of surrogates. Professor Crawford concludes that Professor Cohen’s “unmasking” project—designed to reveal the authentic reasons for reproductive regulation—enhances the discourse about reproductive law and policy

Water, Climate, And Energy Security, Elizabeth Burleson

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Civil society participation can facilitate sound energy, climate, and water governance. This article analyzes the dynamics of transnational decision-making. Part II discusses sound energy strategy in light of a shrinking water-resources base due to climate change. Part III considers how public participation in international decision-making can sustain trust in governments and strengthen the legitimacy of legal decisions. Part IV concludes that process and outcome are both integral to addressing water, climate, and energy challenges.

Taxation, Pregnancy, And Privacy, Bridget J. Crawford

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This Article frames a discussion of surrogacy within the context of existing income tax laws. A surrogate receives money for carrying and bearing a child. This payment is income by any definition, even if the surrogacy contract recites that it is a "reimbursement." Cases and rulings on the income tax consequences of the sale of blood and human breast milk, as well as analogies to situations in which people are paid to wear advertising on their bodies, support the conclusion that a surrogate recognizes taxable income, although the Internal Revenue Service has never stated so. For tax purposes, the reproductive …

Can You Have Your Cake And Eat It Too? Achieving Capital Gain Treatment While Keeping The Property, Ronald H. Jensen

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

I will attempt to show in this article that the cases and rulings dispensing with the need for a sale or exchange are unjustified under the statutory scheme and prevailing capital gain jurisprudence, and further that such holdings constitute bad policy. Part II will set forth a number of examples, based largely on decided cases, where it has been held or contended that recoveries in excess of basis qualify for capital gain treatment even though the taxpayer did not sell or exchange the property. These cases will illustrate the contexts in which this issue arises and will provide a basis …

Estate Planning For Persons With Less Than $5 Million, Bridget J. Crawford

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Individuals of modest wealth may face significant estate taxes but do not have such a large base of wealth that they can 'afford' to make major lifetime gifts or other transfers to reduce estate taxes. But there are planning techniques that can help. Individuals in the ‘modest‘ wealth category face special hurdles in estate planning. This article will assume that the ‘modest‘ wealth category includes individuals whose net worth exceeds the amount of taxable gifts that may be protected by the unified credit (the equivalent of $1 million and herein referred to as the ‘gift tax exemption‘), but does not …

Tax Practice In A Circular Revolution: A Review Of Pli's Circular 230 Deskbook, Bridget J. Crawford

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This short review essay evaluates the Practicing Law Institute's Circular 230 Deskbook by Jonathan G. Blattmachr, Mitchell M. Gans and Damien Rios. For attorneys, accountants and others who "practice" before the IRS, the Circular 230 Deskbook is a masterful analysis and an important guide to the Internal Revenue Service's labyrinthine rules and regulations governing tax penalties, reportable transactions and the conduct of tax practitioners.

Most tax attorneys and accountants have reacted to the recent changes to Circular 230 by appending banner notices to all written communications. Without fully understanding the underlying rules, however, a practitioner cannot be sure that a …

Sample Forms, In Estate Planning Law And Taxation, 4th Ed., Bridget J. Crawford

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Sample estate planning forms.

Selected Estate Planning Strategies For Persons With Less Than $3 Million, Bridget J. Crawford

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Individuals in the “modest” wealth category face special hurdles in estate planning. This article assumes that the “modest” wealth category includes individuals whose net worth exceeds the amount that may be protected by the unified credit (for 1999, the equivalent of $650,000 and herein referred to as the “estate tax exemption,” the “gift tax exemption” or the “applicable exemption amount”), but does not exceed approximately $3 million. In general, people of modest wealth cannot easily afford to give up significant amounts of wealth during lifetime to achieve estate planning goals, although the lifetime transfer of wealth is one of the …

Checkpoints On The Conversion Highway: Some Trouble Spots In The Conversion Of Nonprofit Health Care Organizations To For-Profit Status, James J. Fishman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This essay does not address the truly important policy issues: whether for-profit healthcare should be allowed or encouraged; how the quality of care compares to nonprofits or what criteria should be used to evaluate the quality of care; or what the impact of these conversions is on the communities they serve. It discusses less significant issues: those of process—how can we shape and control this tidal wave of change so that the public will be served and charitable assets preserved to the maximum extent possible? The focus is upon the valuation of these charitable assets; the appropriate process of conversion; …